Okay, so my Sears 16/6 with the Tecumseh OH160 has decided not to charge as of late.

I have an Onan 20 amp regulator, fairly new and I've tested the stator output at about 38-40 while running at about 2000rpm so I am charging up to regulator-2 black swires in pic

My question is what will the output of the B+ terminal on the regulator with no load(red wire)?

If I pull the B+ wire off, red to terminal, black to ground I only get between 1-2 volts DC output. I'm thinking I should be getting 12-14, but then I have no load on it. Normally my amp gauge will show almost 0 when fully charged system, tractor just running. If I turn on lights, amps will jump to up around 10 then drop down some. If I use the winch, the gauge jumps to about 15 amps, this tells me I am pulling on battery and charging system is putting out juice.

Now, I get 10 amp discharge when I turn on my lights, gauge doesn't move like before when using winch.

I also had to swap out ignition switch to a generic one, I am wondering since the B+ wire feeds through it then out to amp gauge if switch is the culprit.

Not sure which to blame, the regulator or the switch.

Can I run charge directly from B+ to amp gauge for testing purposes to bypass switch? It currently goes B+ on regulator to the IGN side, then out BAT side to amp gauge, then amp gauge down to solenoid then up to battery.

You need battery voltage on the center terminal to get the regulator to work. The output should be in the 13-14 range. At least higher than the battery voltage before you start it. Make sure the mounting is clean there too. It grounds through the mounts

What you have coming out of the regulator is a rectified unfiltered DC. It should measure a lot more than 1to 2 volts. Cat has mentioned an often forgotten point. The circuit for the regulator typically depends on the chassis to battery connection to complete the circuit for charge current. If your engine is rubber mounted there needs to be a separate connection between the engine chassis and the battery - terminal. Regardless of where things are mounted you also need a good connection from the regulator case to the battery - terminal. Verify that this connection is solid.

You need battery voltage on the center terminal to get the regulator to work.

That's good to know.

Thanks for comments.

The motor has no rubber, bolted straight to frame. I also have a separate ground wire from the regulator to where battery ground is bolted to frame.

I know I have juice coming from the ignition through the B+ wire, I accidentally touched it to ground while it was off during my meter testing and it sparked a good one. I am thinking I have a bad connection between switch/amp meter/solenoid to battery or switch or amp meter are not working properly. I may yank ammeter and swap in a volt meter instead anyway. Sucks,everything is tucked behind battery or down behind dash with limited access.

So, got a fuse, and checked things out last night. With ignition on run position, I get 12.6-.7 volts across every terminal, switch, ammeter, battery, to regulator.

Fired up the old girl and rechecked, now I get 12.05-.1 volts across all terminals( normal running on my battery-coil ignition with out charging), but 0 on ammeter. Recheck 2 stator wires, 38-40 volts AC between the two. Turned on headlights, ammeter showed

-10 amps or so disharge. So I assume all conections and ammeter are good.

I can only deduce that my regulator is caput!

I guess using those amp drawing headlights in conjunction with my winch for the bucket/blade is just too much draw and burning out my 20 amp regulator.- Plausible???

I have to not plow in the dark or get me some low amp draw LED headlamps I guess.

When you first mentioned this I thought about the winch especially having to use it so many times in short cycles. My thoughts were the regulator might be getting too hot to the point of burning up. Shopping for LED's can be a challenge too. Let us know what you find.

Oon start up was close to 10 amps, but she dropped rapidly to about 2. Guess no more night plowing with the winch and high draw headlights. Still looking for some affordable LED's, hopefully ones I can bolt into the stock grill.

I had a GM alternator from one of my old Camaros on it actually, but since I use this tractor for mowing duties too, it was in the way of the mule drive pulley for mower. If I can get one of my other mowers up and running properly, I could always leave it on and just use this Sears for bucket duty. The Alternator was over charging tooand boiling battery after a while so must've had a bad internal regulator in it too

You can get LED light bulbs at the auto parts place like Auto zone. I have them in my turn signals on the bike. Just take the old ones out and pop the new ones in. Plug and play.

Not with these lights, these are sealed beams I think, well, maybe not they are aftermarket off road lights. I think they take the H3 bulbs so would have to look, probably almost as cheap to buy new lights as those bulbs.

I've read too, the replacement LED's are fine for just fog type light( flood beam) but not good as a spot or headlight, I would need a light with them all facing forward, the LED replacement bulbs can't provide that as 75% of the led's are mounted onthe side and the reflectors in the H3 housing are not designed for proper LED reflection.

It's probably not a big deal in a garden tractor going 5 mph doing close up work, but I wan't to make sure I can see in the distance, don't want to be hitting any deer in the field at WOT

The big thing I have found with LED lights is that you can't see them at an angle, you have to be in straight site. This is why I haven't converted my head light to LED but I have converted my Aux or passing lamps to LED and they have made a big difference in my night visibility. Once again they were plug and play. They were quite a bit more then regular bulbs but not nearly as much as the MC specialty sites. The last time I bought LED bulbs from Auto Zone it cost me $26.24 for 2.